China News Service reported on 19 October 2026, citing the National Bureau of Statistics website, that value-added output of China's industrial enterprises above designated size rose 5.5% year on year in real terms in September, 0.3 percentage points faster than in August. Month on month, output rose 0.61%. For January to September, industrial value added grew 5.3%.
By sector, manufacturing grew 6.0% in September, utilities (power, heat, gas and water) 5.6% and mining 1.3%. Thirty-one of 41 major industry groups recorded year-on-year growth.
Categories most relevant to importers grew fastest: computers, communications and other electronic equipment rose 16.4%, special-purpose equipment 12.1%, railway, shipbuilding, aerospace and other transport equipment 11.7%, general-purpose equipment 8.5%, electrical machinery and equipment 8.1% and automobiles 6.7%. Textiles rose 3.2% and agricultural and food processing 4.1%.
By product, 271 of 626 tracked industrial products saw output growth. New energy vehicle production reached 1.87 million units, up 16.9%, and ethylene output rose 6.4% to 3.55 million tonnes.
For sourcing teams, the data points to well-loaded factories in electronics, machinery and electrical equipment going into the fourth quarter. This is a good moment to confirm capacity, component availability and production slots for Q4 and pre-Lunar New Year orders.